My Freaky Family

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for My Freaky Family
• a review of My Freaky Family completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 22 October 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Aneska (voice of Miranda Otto) and Nerlin Flood (voice of Ardal O’Hanlon) make a daring escape from a magical kingdom while Aneska is heavily pregnant. Fleeing King Murkhart (voice of Richard Roxburgh) and his evil henchman Volos (voice of Robert Degas), who will stop at nothing to find them, Aneska and Nerlin hide in the human world. Here, their young daughter Betty is encouraged to play music but is forbidden to practice magic, despite the fact that her siblings are all encouraged to hone their skills in the art. Her brother Winchflat can raise the dead; her brother Staniel has the power of a dog; and her twin sisters Morbid and Silent have their own unusual talents. When Betty sneaks off to a magical festival that the rest of the family routinely attends, she meets Misha (voice of Charlotte Friels) who pretends to be her friend and secretly trains her to use magic while feeding her false stories about her parents’ past. When Betty’s family is taken by Volos and King Murkhart, her father’s life once again hangs in the balance. It will be up to Betty and her true friends Abi (voice of Erin Choy) and Nat (voice of Semisi Checkham) to find a way to free them all and unite the feuding worlds of magic and music.

Family dysfunction; Dishonesty; Magic; War; Betrayal.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Betty’s parents shoot at Volos and his henchmen as they flee across an icy land. The henchmen return fire, lodging darts into a wagon.
• Characters are knocked off their snowmobile during a high-speed chase and the snowmobile explodes.
• Aneska shoots at Volos.
• Nerlin plays his violin and the musical notes wend their way to Volos and wrap around him until he disappears.
• A goblin creature shoots at Winchflat and the twins.
• The twins shoot a firestorm at the goblin, exploding and knocking over a car.
• Staniel attacks a goblin.
• There are images of an old war, along with fallen soldiers dead on the ground.
• A story is told about how a dragon appears and nearly kills Nerlin and his brother. In order to save their lives, they play music. This leads to the king burning all musical instruments and ordering Nerlin’s execution.
• One character kicks another.
• Winchflat has to shoot his deepest fears.
• One dog eats another.
• Betty is pushed off a tall structure.
• Betty is told that her parents tried to start a revolution by attempting to overthrow the king.
• A dog is electrocuted.
• The Flood family blasts magic balls at those who are trying to entrap and capture them.
• Misha encourages the execution of Betty’s entire family.
• Volos proclaims that, “Betty must die.”
• A rubber chicken destroys three goblin-like creatures.
• There is a battle between music and magic, which only ends when Betty uses magic to send Volos into a dark hole, full of nasty creatures and everlasting torment.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Volos is a giant, spider-like creature with a body made of black smoke and a long face filled with creepy, glowing eyes and eight menacing legs. He nearly captures Betty’s parents in the opening scenes of the film and his continued sinister presence throughout may be unsettling for some viewers.
• Winchflat brings some very creepy zombies back to life. One in particular has red, bloody eyes and a grey, distorted face.
• Betty’s twin sisters often have premonitions. Their eyes roll to the back of their heads so only glowing, white circles remain and they intone words in creepy, distorted voices that don’t seem to belong to them.
• Winchflat has an alien head with tentacles in a bowl that he appears to be doing experiments on.
• Characters get into a giant worm’s mouth. It is grotesque and full of slimy mucus. When they arrive at their destination, the worm vomits them out.
• A gigantic pie has a mouth full of teeth. It grabs random characters and seems to eat them. Eventually, it is shrunk down and then eaten.
• Misha transforms into Volos, complete with creepy spider head and black smoke tendrils.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• As Betty’s family is taken by Volos, Betty’s dead grandmother pulls Betty into her grave. Her grandmother is sweet but her face looks like a zombie, the flesh is half decayed and there is a hole where her cheek should have been. Betty is very worried for her family, especially when she learns that her father is to be exiled to a horrible place with every torment imaginable.
• The ground opens up while Betty’s doomed family stands in front of a gaping hole. A menacing monster with stretching tentacles pokes his way out in a preview of what lies below. The king wants Betty to condemn her family and, at first, it seems as though she may do so but then she shows him that she has other plans.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Winchflat tells Betty that she was, “born the old-fashioned way.” He then winks at their parents who look embarrassed and uncomfortable.
• Abi appears to have a crush on Winchflat.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• A character with knuckles for a head and an otherwise normal body is knocking into people while wearing only his underwear.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is no coarse language in this movie but it does contain some name-calling, including:

• Jerk
• Weird
• Gullible
• Knuckle draggers
• Uncouth little pox bottle
• Butt.

In a nutshell

My Freaky Family is an animated adventure inspired by the book series The Floods by Colin Thompson. The film provides an interesting look at unusual family dynamics, and shows the importance of finding your place and figuring out where you belong. Some of the characters and themes may be upsetting for younger viewers and, as such, the film is best suited to audiences aged 8 and over.

The main messages from this movie are that each family is different in their own way but also that every family member belongs and that family must always come first.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Trustworthiness
• Sacrifice
• Understanding
• Forgiveness
• Compassion.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Not being honest with others.
• Children going off on their own without telling an adult where they are headed.
• Holding grudges against others and refusing to find common ground.
• Trying to control the decisions and life choices of those around you.